Phil Flynn

Pump prices in California and around much of the nation continued their ever-so-slow crawl higher over the past week, the Energy Department said Monday. But analysts said gasoline costs might be kicked into a higher gear by a resurgent oil market. The average cost of a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline in California rose 1.5 cents to $2.355, according to the government's weekly survey of filling stations. Nationally, the average increased 2.9 cents to $2.

Oil prices rose modestly Monday, but not as high as some analysts had expected amid reports of piracy and other trouble at sea that could have threatened deliveries. Crude oil futures for January delivery climbed $1.23, or 1.6%, to $77.28 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Retail gasoline prices fell, on average, by 1.9 cents to $2.921 a gallon in California and by a penny to $2.629 nationally. Through last week, U.S. crude supplies were on the rise and running 17 million barrels ahead of last year at 337.8 million barrels, the Energy Department said.

Doubts about a plan to bail Greece out of its financial mess helped drive oil back under $85 a barrel in trading Monday, analysts said, adding that gasoline prices will probably see their peak for the year by the Memorial Day holiday. For now, pump prices are holding steady, according to the Energy Department's weekly survey of filling stations, released Monday. The average price of a gallon of regular gasoline in California fell two-tenths of a penny to $3.088. The California average has varied by just three cents over the last six weeks.

California's average gasoline price jumped nearly 9 cents a gallon in the last week, a federal survey showed Tuesday, continuing a surge that threatens to keep prices high into the peak summer driving season. In New York, crude oil and gasoline futures soared on political tensions in Iran and Nigeria as well as a major outage at a U.S. refinery. Light, sweet crude for February delivery rose $2.39, or 3.7%, to $66.

Crude oil on Monday reached its highest closing price since January on concern that oil producers might agree to hold back more production when they meet in Vienna this weekend. But the cost of a gas tank fill-up still provided a measure of relief in the midst of otherwise gloomy economic news. The average U.S. price of a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline climbed to $1.941, up 0.7 of a cent from the previous Monday, according to the Energy Department's weekly survey of filling stations.

The average price of a gallon of gasoline rose just 1.2 cents over the last week in California but fell 0.5 cents nationwide, according to the Energy Department's weekly survey of service stations. Even with the small rise in prices in the state and the decline nationally, experts warned that it might not be a sign that prices have peaked. Oil and gasoline prices surged amid popular uprisings that toppled governments in Tunisia and Egypt and sparked protests in Yemen, Bahrain and other countries.

U.S. oil prices fell as low as low as $81.21 a barrel Monday -- the weakest level since Oct. 6, 2011 -- as evidence of a slowdown in the Chinese economy last month added to fears of a sputtering global recovery. Crude oil prices later recovered to $83.08 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, but were still down 15 cents so far from their previous closing price. In London, oil prices on the ICE Futures Europe Exchange were down $1.07 cents to $97.37 a barrel. The biggest reason for another down day so far, analysts said, was China's non-manufacturing purchasing managers index, which fell last month and suggested another slowdown in economic activity, said Phil Flynn, senior market analyst for Price Futures Group Inc. in Chicago.

Pump prices for gasoline in California edged slightly lower over the last week but were on the rise just about everywhere else in the nation, the Energy Department said Monday. The bump in retail prices also helped drive oil futures marginally higher, Wall Street analysts said. Gasoline prices had drifted as low as they could go in recent weeks, those analysts said, because some recent refinery outages had limited supply -- and demand is expected to go up. Experts were expecting a surge in demand as motorists returned to driving after harsh storms dropped large amounts of snow in parts of the Eastern U.S. The average price of a gallon of regular gasoline in California fell 0.8 cents to $2.918, its lowest level since Dec. 21, according to the Energy Department's weekly survey of filling stations.

The average retail price of gasoline fell about 5 cents a gallon in California and nearly 7 cents nationwide over the last week, the Energy Department said Monday, as prices continued to recede from the highs of the year set June 22. The average cost of a gallon of regular gasoline statewide dropped to $2.829, down 5.1 cents for the week and 17.6 cents since June 22, according to the Energy Department's weekly survey of filling stations. The U.S. average declined 6.5 cents to $2.